CLANG!

The brass key struck the floor.

Michael grabbed it as Evelyn rushed toward the front entrance.

He didn't chase her.

His daughter was crying beside the basement door, and Rachel was still trapped below.

Michael called 911 and told the dispatcher that his missing wife might be locked in a room beneath his house.

Then he unlocked the first door.

It swung open with a long wooden creak.

A narrow staircase disappeared into darkness.

Harper reached toward him.

"Daddy, I wanna see Mommy."

Michael knelt in front of her.

"I know, baby. But I need you to stay right here where it's safe."

A weak voice floated upward.

"Harper?"

The little girl started crying again.

"Mommy!"

Michael told the dispatcher that he was checking the basement entrance and described another locked door below.

He stepped down only far enough to look toward the room.

A dim light shone beneath the second door.

A plastic water bottle lay nearby.

Then Rachel spoke again.

"Michael... she's got another key."

Michael looked back at the empty hallway.

Evelyn had escaped.

And he had no idea whether she would return.

Chapter cliffhanger: From behind the locked room, Rachel whispered, "She told you I was dead, didn't she?"